Cotton extracting and cleaning machine



Patented June 1921I 1.E. MITCHELL. COTTON EXTHACTING AND CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. l0. 192|.

yUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. MITCHELL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COTTON EXTRACTING AND 4(3I.EA1\1'11\`|'G- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application lediMarch 10, 1921. Serial No. 451,395.

No. 106.117. tiled August 26th. 1920 and.

Serial No. 123x298. tiled November 11th, 1920. Both of these inventions involve the use of two saw cylinders which have the cotton separated therefrom by means of a single doffer brush.'and in connection with ythe lower saw cylinder there is provided aI smooth roller having a bumper which coperates to move the cotton into engagement with the saw and to knock out hull particles thatare mixed withlthe cotton. There is also provided additional means for preventing the escape of cottonalong with the hull particles knocked out by the bumper compris ing saw teeth on the under side of the lower hull board.

Ithas been found that while the latter combination.v thatis. the hull board having saw teethl on its under side in combination with a bumper roller, is very e'ective in preventing the loss of -any cotton that .might have escaped extraction by the two saw cylinders. there sometimes occurs an l'impedance in the discharge of the hulls,

which are thrown up by the bumper roller, deflected by the saw teeth of the hull board and which drop back upon the bumperv roller. producing a congestion of hulls in the space betweenthe bumper` roller and the saw cylinder.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide simple and etiicient means for accomplishing the object or recovering the maximum amount of cotton passing through the machine. as outlined in my said prior'applications. with greater economy of construct-ion and wit-hout the disadvantage referred to.

To this end I employ a smooth roller as heretofore. but without the bumper, and rely upon the teeth ofthe saw cylinder to knock back. and out of the zone of opera- I tion. the largerhull particles mixed with the cotton. and provide in connection with this smooth roller a hull-guard which is poi sitioned above .the smooth roller and which operates to obstruct the backward movementof any cotton thrown out by the teeth of the saw cylinder with the hulls, but which hullguard will not interferewit-h the backward throw of the larger hull particles.

Patented'J une 28, 1921.

In the. accompanying drawing, I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art. and itis contemplated by me, that the broad principle of my inven-l tion as outlined in the claims. may ind other embodiments .than the particular one shown in the drawing. In said drawing the single view is a vert-ical section of a machine of the type of my prior application referred to and having the improvements constituting my present invention embodied therein.

Referringnow to the drawing. the numelal 1 indicates two feed rollers which opcrate to pass the/mixed cotton and bolls to the boll breaking cylinder Q having pivoted fingers 3 and revolving in a. casing 4, one side of which carries a screen 5 of wire mesh through which dirt and small particles of hulls may pass. The casing 1 has an outlet 6 located opposite to the screen. the size of which is determined by a picker roll 7 operating in proximity to one edge of an angle bar 8 as shown. and which roll carries pins or pickers 9 and rotates in a clockwise direction. This picker roll operates to withdraw the cotton and the broken bolls as the latter `are reduced by the breaking cylinder. and to deliver the mixed product to the cotton separat-ing mechanism. This mechanism will now be described.

Mounted to rotate within the main casing of the machine are two saw cylinders 10 and 11, the lat-terlof which is located below the former and to one side thereof. The cotton and hull particles are directed by the picker roll toward the upper saw cylinder 10 and to facilitate this operation, I provide l an inclined hull board 12 which projects toward the adjacent side of the saw cylinder 1()A in such a way as to leave an opening 13 between its lower end and the side of the saw cylinder.` Coperating with the saw cylinder 10 and located above the same is ate in a similar manner with the lower saw cylinder 11, and'is located between the two saw4 cylinders. 'These saw cylinders are driven in the same direction and are provided with the usual teeth 17 projecting in the direction in which the saws rotate. 1f the amount of the mixed cotton and hulls delivered to the first saw cylinder is in excess of the capacity of this cylinder, the residue will pass downwardly through the opening 13 to be operated upon by the saw cylinder 11. 1n order todirect the same toward this latter saw cylinder and to eX- clude it from contact with the kicker roll 16, l provide a guard in the form of a cant board 18 which is disposed in an inclined position and covers the side of the kicker roll 16 which would otherwise be exposed to the product passing to the lower saw cylinder. The kicker rolls, as shown, rotate in the same direction as the saw cylinders so that the working side ofeach roll rotates in the opposite direction to the adjacent side of the saw cylinder, thereby operating to kick off pieces of hulls which may be adhering to the cotton carried by the saws. r1`he numeral 19 indicates a rotary doffer pro-A.

vided with a plurality of radial brushes 20. This doffer is located between 'the two saw cylinders 10 and 11, at an equal distance from each, and is so positioned that it functions simultaneously with both saw cylinders. The dofer rotates in an opposite direction to said saw cylinders yso that the brushes -move in the same direction with the saw teeth with which they coperate, but at a higher speed, so as to enable the brushes to remove the cotton from the saw cylinders l and discharge the same through the cotton discharge opening 21. The numeral 22 indicates a hull board, which extends in an in-V clined direction toward the side of the saw cylinder 11 opposite to the doffer 19,` and this hull board preferably includes an adjustable extension 23 which may be extended to any desired point in order that its lower edge may define. the size of an opening 24 past the saw cylinder 11. Just below this opening I provide a hullroller 25 which rota'tes in the same direction as the saw cylinder 11, and the surface of which is preferably smooth. In other Ewords, 1 dispense with thel bumper shown in the construction `of the applications above referred to. tween this hull roller and the saw cylinder 11 a space 26 is provided through whichl small hull particles may' escape. Located above the roller 25`is a hull guard 27 which is positioned to one side of a verticalplane embracing the axis of the hull roller 25 in a direction away from the working surface of the saw cylinder 11.' The hull guard 27 in the present embodiment of the invention isshown as a round iron rod which extends from side to side of the casing of the machine and is secured at its ends therein. IThis hull guard, however, need not be round and by referring to the same in the claims by the term barf I intend thereby to refer to a member of any shape whatsoever, located above and extending throughout the length of the hull roller 25 and operating to obstruct the throw of cotton while permitting the larger hull particles knocked back to hurdle it and be discharged from the machine.

To the left of the hull roller 25 as shown in the drawing, and between said hull roller and the side ofthe casing there is a passage 28 for the escapevof hulls which fall onto a conveyer 29 andare thereby removed from the machine.

The extension 23 of the lower hull board can be adjusted in any suitable manner, for example, by means of racks 3() disposed near each end of the extension and engaged by pinions 31. rllhese pinions may be carried on a common shaft 32 operated on the outside by means of a crank 33.

' The operation'of the machine as a whole is exactly the same as described in my prior applications referred to and the same need not' be repeated here. l will, therefore, refer only to the operation of the presentirn` provement beginning at the point where mixed cotton and hulls pass through vthe the teeth of the saw cylinder 11. Whatever cotton there is in this mixture is engaged by the teeth vof the saw cylinder andjextracted; the small hulls and shale in the mixture work themselves through the passage 26 and fall upon the conveyer 29. The hulls that are too large to go through the passage 26 are knocked by the saw teeth over the hull guard 27 and fall through the passage 28 upon the conveyer 29 and are discharged, with the small hulls and other'trash, from the machine. The detached wads or locks of cotton thrown back by the teeth of the sawl cylinder 11 ar'e obstructed in their course by the hull guard 27 and are again carried by the smooth roller into contact with the teeth of the saw cylinder and extracted. rlhe hull guard 27, therefore, prevents the passage and consequent loss, of any cotton through the space 28 without in any way obstructing the' discharge of the larger hulls which when knocked by the teeth of the saw cylinder, easily hurdle the hull guard and fall through the space 28 as above described.

While ll have described my invention in connection with a two cylinder machine, I wish it understood that the same can be employed, if desired, with a machine having only one saw cylinder of the type shown in various prior patents granted to me.

chine providing a 'saw cylinder and a re stricted opening past the same for the passage of material, means located in spaced relation to said saw cylinder and beneath said opening for receiving such material, and operating to move the same toward the saw cylinder, and a member located above said vmeans for intercepting cotton particles thrown' back by the teeth of the saw cylinder while permitting hull particles to hurdle the same.

2. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine, in ,combination with a saw cylinder and a hull board, the lower end of which latter defines the size of an opening past the saw cylinder, a roller located below saidopening to receive material passing therethrough, and rotating in the same direction as, and in relatively close proximity to said saw cylinder, and a bar located above Vand extending over said roller and positioned t0 obstruct the backward movement sage of material, means located beneath said opening for receiving such material and moving in adirection toward the saw cylinder and defining at one side the size of' an opening past the saw cylinder `of less width than the opening first named, and a member located above said means and located in the normal path of the cotton and below the normal path of the hulls thrown backward by the teeth of the saw cylinder.

4. In a cotton extracting and cleaning machine in combination with a saw cylinder and a hull board, the lower end of which latter defines the size of an opening past the saw cylinder, a roller located below said opening to receive material passing therethrough and rotating in the same direction as said saw cylinder and defining the size 'of an opening past the same of less width than the opening first named, and means l0- cated above and extending over said roller and positioned in the normal path of cotton and below the normal path 'of hulls, thrown backward by the saw cylinder whereby the cotton will be obstructed and the hull particles will hurdle said member.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set m'y hand.

JOHN E. MITCHELL. 

